Here it has been hard to believe that Crappie will hit a jig when guts are busting full of Shad. Is it here or are they on a Shad binge everywhere?
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Here it has been hard to believe that Crappie will hit a jig when guts are busting full of Shad. Is it here or are they on a Shad binge everywhere?
Wish I could answer but haven't been lately.
They are gorging themselves on shad in Conway. Everyone that I filet has a belly full of shad.
same for me full of shad
Crappie gorge themselves every fall getting ready for the long hard winter. This gorging will help them make it through the winter, develop eggs, and carry them into the spawn.
Yes they do and it shows, the bigger ones are adding girth.:ThumbsUp
I haven't been lately but in the past I've truly been amazed when their bellies are bulging and you go to take the jig out of their mouth and you can see the tails of shad sticking out of their throats. Looks like they couldn't eat another thing but they hit that jig like they're starving.
Does anyone have any photos of these fish? A guy on Texas Fishing Forum claims this never happens and you guys are spreading false info. His proof is that he had 1 (one) crappie in a fish tank at his home for 1 (one) year and it only ate 1 or 2 minnows every other day! LOL I need some photos to prove he is full of crap.
Thanks Rodney
I don't have any proof on the crappie, but we fished for speckled trout in the gulf on a lighted private pier that was a churning mass of baitfish. When we would catch on our jig and pull them up on the pier, they would be "puking" these bait fish by the bunches. A catfish will stuff itself until it's belly is bulging. We once caught a catfish that was probably 16 inches long. When we baited our lines and got to the last hook, we just discarded the remaining liver, a piece about 1 inch square and 8 or 10 inches ling. That fish had first ate the discard piece, then bit the liver on a trot line. Several times using a 2 hook rig, the same fish would eat both jigs if we didn't notice the bite in time. That being said, I do have this picture of a bluegill in a crappie.
Here are a few posts showing how big of forage and baits Crappie will eat.
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/arkan...t-yellow-bass/
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...176-size-lure/
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...m/264665-bite/
They hang around the shad schools & feed as often as possible, most jigs are reaction bites, I THINK.
I have cleaned 1000s of crappie and the majority of them have a gut full of shad during the Fall and Winter. This is especially true on Lake Conway. I will try to find a picture the next time I am in the office.
Most of the crappie outta Brewer have been full as a tick but I have caught some big blacks REAL DEEP on brush that where empty too.
Attachment 225772
This fish hit a Big Minnow on a Minner Critter with this 7" shad sticking out of its throat. It was full of shad. I'd say they gorge.
It weighed 3.05 before the shad was pulled out. [emoji4]
Attachment 225773
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRiverMarine
Trying to figure out how to stuff 2.5 lbs of shad into a 11 incher. May be the only way I get to weigh a 3lber.
Use a bicycle air pump with a big needle and injection em. Might try one of those tennis ball shooters and blast em down their throat. [emoji23][emoji23]Quote:
Originally Posted by RCC
I have caught quite a few large crappie in MS.and the fish were full of 3-4" shad.That being said. They still swallowed a 3/32nd pony head sickle w a large willow blade,a large Southern Pro tube with a good size minnow on the back. Especially in early spring when the fish have started moving shallow and are getting ready for the spawn.They hit this large offering like a bass.Even this little fellow with part of his body missing hit a large minnow in stained water, 15' deep.The fish in the 2nd pic I caught off a dead willow tree, along a secondary ditch leading into a creek arm 12' deep with the jig minnow combo that i described.Some time they want it small and some time they want it big.You just have to let the fish tell you on any given day or lake.
Does anyone cast net for shad and then fish for crappie with these shad?
They have been gorging on shad in the AR river for the last 3 months. Went yesterday and they were INHALING the jigs. Also most fish I caught had shad in their gullet.
Most of The fished we have cleaned the last couple of months from Beaver lake have been full of shad.
Same things on the lakes we sampled and I fished. Good year for shad production in the state. To answer your question about using shad for crappie bait, I have snagged some small shad while jig fishing and wanted to see if I could cath a crappie with it. I've tried tightling them on a hook, tipped on a jig, and under a cork. No luck, with the crappie. I think in the area that I fish where shad are so think that you snag them (wonder where this is) that it is difficult to get a crappies attention with another shad the same size when they are very abundant. I have however caught a couple of catfish with shad rigged up for crappie.
Caught a lot of crappie last weekend and couldn't find diddly in their stomachs, just one had a digested shad but most of the time all last year hardly ever had anything in them. seemed strange to me.